Jashin's Empire
by trancepanda
Summary: AU. Naruto has trained all his life to be a warrior in Jashin's Empire. He receives his first mission; crush the heathens in the Konoha settlement. Failure will NOT be tolerated.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my own personal ideas**

**Jashin's Empire**

**Chapter One**

* * *

Two people stood outside the tall doors of the bloodstone pyramid.

"Kyuubi, is this the temple?" the younger boy, who was no more than five, enunciated each word carefully and looked up at the red-headed teenager. The teenager, Kyuubi, smiled back at him, revealing sharpened teeth.

"Yes, it is Naruto." He reached out a hand and ran it slowly down one of the doors, fingers caressing the symbols inscribed upon it. Naruto copied his movements, face rapt in awe. Naruto had heard stories of the temple, seen it from a distance even, but he had never imagined that it would be this beautiful up close.

The temple was tall, its height easily surpassing anything nearby, and made of bloodstone and metal. A large set of steps (which were dreadfully tiring to walk up, as Naruto had just learned) led up to a plateau that was roughly one hundred yards long and 50 wide. The plateau was lined with tall pillars. Each pillar was adorned with a white silk flag that had a circumscribed inverted triangle embossed on it in black.

Blue eyes looked up into deep brown, "Are you sure you can't come with me?"

Kyuubi laughed easily, "Go with you to the Initiate's Temple?" he absently grabbed the handle of his scythe, which was slung over his shoulder, "No can do Naruto. I did my training."

"Please-"

Kyuubi bent down and clapped his hands onto the boy's shoulders, "Don't beg Naruto," he admonished sternly, "Jashinists never beg. Begging is for the weak and the weak deserve to die. You don't want to be weak, do you?"

Naruto shook his head frantically, blue eyes wide.

"Good.," Kyuubi pulled the boy into a brief hug and then stood, "Make me proud little brother"

He pushed open one of the doors and held it open expectantly. Naruto gave him one last look and walked into the darkness that pooled just inside the temple.

* * *

_One Year Later_

Naruto stood barefoot, shirtless, and shivering from cold in the middle of the chamber. His back was stinging violently, and he could feel blood slowly running down between his shoulder blades and soaking into the waistband of his pants. A knife, bloodstained and chipped, landed abruptly on the floor in front of him. He stopped himself from making any surprised or startled movements with difficulty; last time he had jumped he had been badly whipped. A bloody and beaten man hit the floor seconds after the knife; his head connected with the stone floor with a sickening crunch. Sempai grabbed the man by his white hair and pulled him viciously upright.

"Kill him"

Naruto looked at the knife, then at the man, and then at Sempai, who was watching him with dangerously glittering red eyes.

Frightened green eyes stared beseechingly up at the blonde "Please, do—"

The man's plea turned into a scream of pain as Sempai slammed a knee, hard, into his spine. Naruto suppressed a sympathetic cringe as he heard something in the man's back break.

Sempai pulled the man's head back further, baring his throat.

"Kill him," he repeated, staring at Naruto from underneath his black fringe. He dropped his free hand onto the handle of his whip and narrowed his eyes, "now"

Naruto picked up the knife slowly, eyes never leaving the man's exposed neck, mind racing. The man had been about to beg for his life

"_Begging is for the weak and the weak deserve to die…"_

"…_never show mercy. They would not give it to you, why give it to them?"_

"…_If life is precious why is there so much of it?"_

He gave his head an almost imperceptible shake to clear out the ghosts of voices invading his head and tightened his grip on the knife. Sempai watched him, a cold smile playing around his lips. Naruto took a deep breath and his hand shot out. The knife flew in a sharp horizontal line. The blade cut through the man's neck easily, with only a slight viscous pull. Warm blood spurted from the wound, soaking the front of the man's ragged shirt and ropes of it splashed against Naruto's face. Sempai released the man's hair and the dying man fell bonelessly to the floor, final breaths gargling up from his ruined throat and feet twitching spastically.

"Huh, not bad for a first kill, vermin"

Something bounced off Naruto's chest and fell to the ground. In a daze the boy picked it up and hung it around his neck. The rosary's pendant settled near his solar plexus like an icy weight.

* * *

_Ten Years Later_

"So, out of all the little shits, you're the one who managed to kill your Sempai"

Naruto looked up from his kneeling position at the silver-haired priest who was standing in front of him.

"Yes, Hidan-san" he murmured respectfully.

"Hmmm, I'm not fucking surprised. I remember your brother Kyuubi; he was a bloodthirsty little shit."

A battered three-bladed scythe clattered to the floor in front of Naruto.

"There. By a long-fucking tradition you get your old Sempai's weapon. Use it well"

"But, Hidan-san what will the others use for weapons?" Naruto asked, eyeing the scythe apprehensively, the old scars it had caused burning with the ghost of pain.

"The others?" Hidan let out a bark of laughter, "the others from your dorm were weak. The Empire doesn't tolerate weakness in the Temples."

Naruto kept his face impassive as the hidden meaning in Hidan-san's words sank in.

'_So they're all dead then…'_

"Pay attention fucker!" Hidan snapped irritably. There was a brief burst of pain as he kicked Naruto hard in the jaw. The pain faded into an easily ignored throbbing, and the blonde pushed it out of mind.

"My apologies, Hidan-san"

"Eh, fuck your apologies. Anyway, the Empire wants you to head to the Konoha settlement. Some of the heathen's there have been acting up. Crush them, understand?"

"Yes Hidan-san"

"Good," the pale man waved a hand dismissively, "Get the fuck out of here. And grab a damn robe before you leave."

Naruto stood, carefully picked up the scythe (which seemed to pulse with malevolent energy) and slung it across his back. He was almost out the door when Hidan spoke again.

"Remember, there is no tolerance for failure. Don't fuck up or don't come back."

Naruto nodded respectfully and closed the door behind him. When he heard the door click shut he allowed himself to smile and set off to the room where all the Temple's robes were stored. He had done it. He was a warrior in Jashin's Empire, just like Kyuubi.

'_Make me proud little brother'_

Kyuubi would be proud, he knew it. He grabbed a robe and shrugged it on easily, shifting a bit this way and that to get used to the feel of it.

The robes (which were the uniform of the Empire) were floor length, with sleeves that fell to just above the fingertips. They were such a deep black that they almost appeared to suck in surrounding light and were embellished and bordered with dark purple. Naruto went through some basic fighting moves; he knew the robes were heavy because of all the armor hidden inside the cloth but thankfully they were not particularly restrictive. Satisfied with his brief inspection and testing phase he pulled the hood up and slung the scythe (he had heard Sempai call it _Teikoku no ha_ before but he supposed he would need to rename it now that it was his) over his shoulder.

* * *

He pushed open the temple's front doors and stepped into the bloody light of the setting sun. The air smelled of death and burning flesh. A thick black pillar of smoke rose from the north end of the plateau.

Naruto walked slowly across the plateau and down the steps, not giving the funeral pyre of the failed initiates even a glance.

Konoha was a week's journey away at the least, best get started.

* * *

**A/N: this is going to be my first multi-chapter fic so some reviews (but no flames) would be appreciated. They would really help me know whether or not to continue posting this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: i do not own anything, at all...nothing**

* * *

_Sempai slowly pulled the razor sharp blade from his chest. It slid free with a wet grinding sound. The initiate who had attacked him paled and began shaking._

"_You…have the nerve to attack me?" Sempai hissed, his voice flickering between amused and deadly. _

"_H-how? I hit your heart, I know it!" the initiate's voice shook violently._

"_Heart? I have no heart?"_

_The air around Sempai flickered and the man disappeared. A second passed in stunned silence and then the offending initiate screamed in agony. The boy collapsed and his lower body began to twitch. The iron handle of the knife barely peeked out from the base of his spine. Sempai emerged from the shadows and slowly un-slung the scythe from his back; he placed one foot on the initiate's wound, pushing the blade in further and turned to face the rest of the initiates._

"_Can you tell me what mistake this pathetic fuck made?"_

_There was a moment of silence. Everyone knew better than to answer one of Sempai's rhetorical questions._

"_He did not analyze his opponent. You pathetic shits need to LEARN!"_

_He twisted his foot violently. Something snapped in the initiate's back and his resounding scream came out sounding liquid and choked._

"_Those who are stronger than you often have abilities that you would not anticipate. As you get older you will find that with enough knowledge and willpower anything becomes possible. I cut out my heart and continued to live, surviving on my own power."_

_He swung his scythe in a neat arc that lopped of the wounded initiate's head. Blood came forth in torrents and painted abstract art onto the floor; it began to puddle._

"_I know that more than one person schemed against me. More than one of you deserves the void."_

_His red eyes passed over each person, glittering in the half-light._

"_But, I am merciful. You schemed for my death, and I offer you a chance at a more powerful life."_

_Sempai's reached down and wrenched the blade free from the corpse's spine. He straightened up and observed the line of initiates again._

"_You, vermin," he locked eyes with Naruto, "You will try. Perhaps you will even survive"_

_He tossed the blood-soaked blade at Naruto, who caught it deftly._

"_Cut out your heart"_

_Naruto looked out the blade and after a brief moment placed it against his chest. Sempai looked at him expectantly and Naruto put pressure on the blade. It dimpled the skin on his chest for a moment and then broke through._

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, jolting upright. One hand grasped at his chest, fingers raking over an old scar that pulsed with phantom pain. Glacial blue eyes moved frantically back and forth. His body shook and his torso was drenched in cold sweat.

"_Where…where am I?"_

Birds chirped outside his curtained window and sunlight filtered in, casting a faint rectangle of light on worn hardwood.

"_Right…right Konoha"_

Naruto took several deep, steadying breaths and disentangled himself from the bed sheets. He crossed the floor with silent steps and climbed into the shower. The water kicked in and quickly washed away the last dregs of sleep. He pushed his blonde hair out of his eyes, slicking it back in an unconscious imitation of the High Priest Hidan, and rubbed a hand over his face.

"_For the love of Jashin-sama, why do I keep having those damned flashbacks? I thought they would stop after I killed that sadistic asshole."_

He absently ran a hand down his chest and stomach, feeling the hard contours of muscle and grimacing at the Frankenstein-like patchwork of scars.

'_I guess no one gets out of the Initiates Temple without some sort of injury'_

Naruto closed his eyes and shivered.

* * *

Flashback

_Naruto suppressed a shiver as another cold breeze caressed his battered body. His entire being sung with pain but the blonde pushed out of his mind with difficulty. The long, deep cut that crossed his hipbones was particularly hard to ignore. Sempai staggered to his feet. He looked even worse than Naruto did. His clothes hung in tatters, blood dripped from his mouth and from the hollow cavity Naruto had punched in his chest. The ebony haired man hadn't lied when he said he had no heart. The space where it should have been was empty, but still the man regained his footing._

"_Not bad vermin," he coughed and a gout of blood passed between cracked lips. He absently reached into his mouth and removed a broken and yellowed tooth, "but I'm not quite ready to visit the void yet"_

_The air around Sempai flickered and he disappeared. Naruto stood stock still, eyes closed and ears tuned to hear the lightest of sounds. A cold breeze hit his back and Naruto moved at his top speed. His fist shot out and he felt blood drench his arm up to the elbow. Glacial blue eyes opened and met red eyes which were, for the first time in his memory, not glittering. Both men looked down almost simultaneously and Naruto discovered that his fist had entered the cavity he had already hollowed out with a previous punch and broken out the back of Sempai's chest._

"_Well…shit." Sempai chuckled brokenly. His eyes, formerly a bright red, had darkened to a maroon shade._

_Naruto was unable to stop a pained gasp as a sharp sliver of agony hit him in the stomach. He looked down and breathed out a curse. In the blonde's one unguarded moment Sempai had slid a blade in between his ribs._

"_You motherfucker" he muttered._

_Naruto looked back up. Sempai grinned victoriously and spat a glob of blood into the blonde's eyes. The younger boy pulled back his free fist, intent on hitting the man in the neck and crushing his windpipe, but the fading maroon eyes went dark at that moment. Sempai's head slumped forward and the man went completely limp._

_End Flashback_

* * *

"_Sempai was a spiteful little shit 'till his last breath"_

Naruto ran his finger over the thin scar on his ribs. After another moment of reflection he turned off the water and stepped out.

Twenty minutes later Naruto, who was clad in his robes and with his scythe slung over his shoulder, stood at the front desk of the Empire's outpost.

"And you are?"

The man behind the desk straightened his uniform, a black high-collared coat with silver buttons in the shape of Jashin's symbol that identified him as a non-warrior officer of the Empire, and stared at Naruto with bored silver eyes.

"Naruto, High Priest Hidan sent me."

"Ah, one minute" he turned away from Naruto to face a computer monitor and the blonde warrior repressed an irritated sigh. That desk-fuck's drawl was starting to piss him off already.

The silver-eyed man turned back to Naruto and held out a thin manila folder. A tan hand reached out, grabbed the folder, and tucked it into his robes.

"So," the desk-fuck paused to light a cigarette, "you're the one Hidan-sama sent to deal with our…heathen problem."

"Yes," Naruto replied shortly, "What can you tell me about these rebels. What do they call themselves, their members, etcetera"

The desk-fuck blew out a string of smoke rings and propped his elbow up on an upturned hand in a curiously feminine gesture.

"They call themselves," he paused and made a face as if he had tasted something disgusting, "_shinobi_. Jashin-sama knows what the hell it means. Their leader appears to be Hiruzen Sarutobi. Self-righteous old fuck. He and his followers claim to be fighting against Danzo, the man we appointed to lead the rabble. But," the man blew out another string of smoke rings, "they attacked several of our patrols. No casualties but…they need to be put in their place"

Naruto waited a moment to see if the desk-fuck had anything left to say and when it was apparent that he was finished, the blonde spun on his heel and walked out of the outpost. He moved slowly through the crowded streets, hoping that his robes would catch unwanted attention. After twenty minutes of traversing the streets he turned into a deserted alley and slowed down even more. A strong feeling welled up in his chest and, moving on instinct, he leaped forward and spun around to face his attacker. The person who attacked him looked surprised that he had managed to dodge but then straightened up into a fighting stance. Brown eyes flashed dangerously and the wind ruffled black hair that was held back by a headband adorned with a metal plate. A strange symbol in the plate glinted in the sunlight.

"I'm going to kill you, you Jashinist scum."

* * *

**A/N: and I shall leave you with a cliff hanger to keep you interested. **

**Review and enjoy this chapter.**

**Later.**


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